WORM I A. 



of Cafpar Bartliolin in the profefforfhip of medicine at 

 Copenhagen. He died reftor of that univerfity in 1654. 

 His Latin writings, on the hiftory and antiquities of Den- 

 mark and Norway, are valued for their accuracy. His fon 

 William publilhed, in 1 655, the Mufxum Wormtanum, a 

 handfome work in folio, the fecond book of which, ac- 

 cording to Haller, confilts entirely of botanical fubjeCls. 

 Olaus Wormius herein defcribes and figures feveral rare plants, 

 1 or monftrous varieties, with a detail of their anatomy. His 

 1 letters, not publifhed till 175 1, are faid to contain many 

 I things relating to Botany. — " Rottb. Nov. Adt. Hafn. for 

 1783. v. 2. 522. t. 3." Salifb. Parad. at p. 73. De 

 Cand. Syft. v. i. 433. — Clafs and order, Polyandria 

 ■ Pentagynla. Nat. Ord. MagnoUit, Jufl". DUleniaccit, De 

 Candolle. 



Gen. Ch. Cal. Perianth inferior, of five roundifh, con- 

 cave, very obtufe, coriaceous, permanent leaves. Cor. 

 Petals five, roundilh, concave, larger than the calyx, taper- 

 ing at the bafe, deciduous. Stam. Filaments very nume- 

 rous, crowded, Ihort, equal ; anthers terminal, linear, longer 

 than the filaments, fhorter than the petals, recurved, burft- 

 ing by a double orifice at the fummit. Pijl. Germens five, 

 or more, fuperior, diftinft, ovate, comprefied, crowded ; 

 ftyles terminal, tapering, recurved, longer than the ger- 

 mens ; ftigmas notched. Peric. Capfules as many as the 

 germens, and of the fame form, each of one cell and one 

 valve, burfting at the inner edge, crowned with one of the 

 ; permanent ftyles. ^Wj feveral, from 8 to 12, roundifh, 

 ' " each with a pulpy tunic at the bafe." Salijh. 



Eff. Ch. Calyx inferior, of five coriaceous, permanent 

 leaves. Petals five. Anthers with two terminal pores. 

 Capfules five, comprefled, diftinft, many-feeded. Styles 

 thread-fhaped. Stigmas notched. A genus of trees or 

 (hrubs, with rather twining Jlems, and round fmooth 

 branches. Leaves alternate, ftalked, fimple, oval, coriace- 

 ous, with a fingle mid-rib, and many tranfverfe parallel par- 

 tial ribs. SlipuLis large, oblong, pointed, deciduous ; the 

 ^ young ones convoluted, forming a terminal point, as in the 

 filagnolta tribe. Flower-Jlalks about the ends of the 

 branches, oppofite to the leaves, angular, either racemofe or 

 }j:iicled; often unilateral. Flowers white or yellow. 

 C.dyx remaining coriaceous and dry, not becoming pulpy, 

 1 which, as well as the feparate ^/jm(«, and elongated 

 'jlyles, this genus differs abundantly from DUlenia. (See that 

 ', article.) M. De Candolle notices the two terminal pores 

 , of the anthers in //. alata, which he thought might afford 

 a charafter for dividing the genus, if the fame were not 

 found in all the fpecies. We find this charafter in W. den- 

 tnla, as well as in our new W. fericea, and therefore venture 

 to make it a part of the generic diftinftion. 



1. W. madagafcarienjis. Madagafcar Wormia. De 

 Cand. n. I. — "Leaves oval, bluntly finuated. Clufters 

 panicled," — Gathered by Commerfon in Madagafcar. An 

 elegant tree, with thick round branches. Stlpiilas folitary, 

 large, long, leafy, externally villous, deciduous, each leaving 

 an annular fear on the branch. Leaves oval or orbicular, 

 fmooth, with broad, obtufe, ihallow, marginal notches. 



• Footjlalhs long, channelled above, and marked with tranf- 

 verfe wrinkles. Floiuer-Jlalks nearly oppofite to the leaves, 

 creft. /'an'(r2/;/7«/ij fingle-flowered, without ^r(3(?Mj. Pe- 



: ials undulated, thrice as long as the calyx. Seeds roundifli. 



': D: Candolle. 



2. W. dentata. Toothed Wormia. De Cand. n. 2. 

 { DiUenia dentata; Thunb. Tr. of Linn. Soc. v. i. 201. 

 t. 20. Willd. Sp. PI. V. 2. 1253, excluding Rottbiill's 



' fynonym. Poiret in Lam. Dift. v. 7. 151.) — Leaves 

 : ovate, abrupt, coarfely and rather fharply toothed. Foot- 



ftalks fimple, triangular, fmooth. Flower-ftalks triangular, 

 from three to fix-flowered.— Gathered by Thunberg in 

 Ceylon. We received a fpecimen, precifely anfwering to 

 the above plate, in 1786, from profelTor David Van Royen, 

 marked DUlenia indica ; Reaunmria of Koenig, by whom it 

 was gathered ; and Ghodaparra of the Cinghalefe. This is 

 a tree, with round branches. Leaves four inches long, of a 

 broad, elliptic-ovate figure, very abrupt, coriaceous ; paler 

 beneath ; entire at the bafe ; wavy at the fides ; moft 

 toothed at the end ; tranfverfe ribs very ftraight. Convo- 

 luted ^//a/a, at the end of the branch, acute, two-edged, 

 fmootli. Footjlalks linear, narrow, near two inches long, 

 acutely triangular, not bordered, fmooth. Clufler fimple, 

 on a long, fmooth, angular ftalk, not quite oppofite to the 

 uppermoft leaf, in our fpecimen confifling of fix fionutrs, 

 whofe partial ftalks are about an inch long. Thunberg 

 reprefentsthree^oit/frjonly, whofe/ifWj are obovate, about 

 an inch in length. 



3. W. trtquetra. Triangular Wormia. " Rottb. Nov. 

 Aft. Hafn. V. 2. 532. t. 3." De Cand. n. 3.— Leaves 

 ovate, bluntifh, bluntly and (lightly finuated. Footftalks 



fimple, triangular. Flower-ftalks triangular, racemofe 



Native of Ceylon. Van Royen. Defcribed by De Can- 

 dolle from a dried fpecimen. " Branches round, brown, 

 fmooth, with an elevated ring round the origin of each leaf. 

 Footjlalks ftraight, two inches long. Leaves oval, or 

 oblong ; rather tapering at the bafe ; obtufe, or fomewhat 

 pointed, at the end ; either entire, or very bluntly and 

 (lightly waved; the ribs pinnate, (as in the reft,) having 

 about eight or ten lateral ribs at each fide. Flotver-jlalks 

 fimple, nearly oppofite to the leaves. Two outer calyx- 

 leaves rather the largeft. Petals concave. Stamens very 

 (hort. Germens triangular, crowded. Styles reflexed." 

 Such is De Candolle's defcription, but he doubts whether 

 this be a diftinft fpecies from the laft. Wo have feen 

 neither fpecimen nor figure, but the plant having been re- 

 ceived from profelTor Van Royen, like our fpecimen of the 

 preceding, rather confirms the doubt than removes it. 



4. W. alata. Wing-ftalked Wormia. De Cand. n. 4. 

 (Dillenia alata; Banks Ic. unpubliihed, communicated 

 with fpecimens, in flower and fruit, to Linnxus.) — Leaves 

 oval, entire. Footftalks fmooth, winged. — Gathered by fir 

 Jofeph Banks, in New Holland, near Endeavour river. 

 The branches are round, fmooth, except the annular fears 

 left by xlht Jlipulas . Leaves three or four inches long, and 

 above half as broad, fmooth, obtufe, with diftant tranfverfe 

 ribs, and copious reticulated veins ; their under furface 

 rufty-coloured, but poliihed. Ftotjlalh an inch or an inch 

 and a half long, winged at each fide with an entire leafy 

 border, contrafted at the apex, and quite fmooth. Flotver- 



Jlalk oppofite to the upper leaf of the branch, folitary, 

 racemofe, triangular, fmooth, ftiorter than the leaves, bear- 

 ing two or three yellow Jloiuers, larger than thofe of IV. 

 dentata. Petals undulated. Anthers long, linear, with two 

 pores at the end, like W. dentata. Styles fometimes nine or 

 ten, recurved. Capfules coriaceous, gaping, apparently 

 red\follicliS, with a number of round feeds, inierted into the 

 margins, deftitutc, as far as we can fee, of any pulpy 

 tunic. 



5. W. fer'icea. Silky-ftalked Wormia. — Leaves oval, 

 bluntly ferrated. Footftalks deprelTed, filky, as well as the 

 flower-ftalks and calyx. — Native of the Eaft Indies. A 

 fpecimen in the herbarium of the younger Linnnsus, which 

 he fnppofed to be Dillenia indica, is marked " Mallei Man- 

 gatfokeri, a tree with fnow- white Jlowers." We cannot 

 refer this to any thing in profelTor De Candolle's work. 

 It undoubtedly belongs to the genus before us. The 



branchts 



